Being Creative in Bergen, Winter 2020

 Dean Disaster performed at Løvetann Kaffebar, to a small COVID crowd of 7. It was a hit!

We were so looking forward to doing a second show on the 19th, but Joanna had to close down the cafe. It is tragic how many small businesses have not been able to make it. It's even more tragic since Løvetann Kaffebar was such a friendly spot, with such good food.

Big Christmas tradition: Julebord! My annual Girl Friends Julebord, with bling, bling, bling. was allowed this year, because we have beaten back COVID to the level that we can go to restaurants... if we sit, in small groups, not mingling. So we had just 6, not 40 women, and we didn't do our gift exchange or our singing. But it was awesome to actually have in-person conversations! And eat pinnekjøtt, or "stick meat, a traditional Norwegian dish of salted and dried ribs of sheep that has been used especially as a party food for Christmas. Wikipedia."

Another Julebord, this time with Deanna, involves a non-Norwegian tradition: the ugly Christmas sweater! There were some clever ones. My electronic one with lights and "Jingle Bells" wowed everyone, while Deanna's well-ornamented Oh Deer sweater was outstanding.

Eating at Spisekroken was my treat to Deanna. It's a top-flight restaurant right up the hill from my place. Dessert was chocolate cake with blueberries on top and brown-cheese ice-cream. Mmmm!

A new COVID-19 dining experience is the QR code game. First, register your presence (contact tracing) with a QR code, then order from a menu with a QR code. Smart phone required to eat out at many places, these days!

We signed up for a workshop to make a creative board game at Gunvor's shop in Bryggen. We are basing it on Chutes and Ladders, but the motif is Space Opera. We may call it Shooting Stars and Spacewalks!?! Gunvor is a geek like us, who does captivating art. She will do commissions, if you want! Anyway, here's our final design printed on normal paper, with our five moving pieces.

We have an evil alien ruler, a powerful alien queen with big boobs, a Robby Robot start, a space throne finish, and nine rows of planets, UFOs, and rockets. You fall where the little guy is catching a shooting star in the net. You go up between the space shuttle and the spaceman. Won't it be fun to make up a story as you go around the board?

The national stage DNS was allowed to open on the week of the 7th of December, so we got to watch a dress rehearsal for Ingmar Bergman's "Scenes from a Marriage". We were in an intimate theater where the changes of costume happened right off the stage. Deanna and I were sitting in the front row, near the lighted desk-seat where they looked for forgotten lines. The audience was seated in pairs with pairs of empty seats between each pair, and the next row offset by one pair, so social distancing was maintained.

This heart is for all of us who are fighting COVID-19 together. It's a symbol popping up all over town. Know that all of you are in my heart!